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There once lived a man named Jonah the prophet.
A prophet that was assigned by the Lord to preach at Nineveh,
As the people sinned and only a prophet could stop it.
But Jonah was stubborn and rejected God’s call to minister.
Instead, he decided to hide from God and aboard a ship.
A ship that would take him off opposite Ninevah, to Tarshish.
Upon boarding the ship, he falsely felt safe and happy.
Assuming that God would not notice or even be angry.
Little did Jonah know that God who sees all, saw.
And that God would not let him easily go.
So by the first night, the ship was caught in a storm.
And Jonah took it as a sign from God, but felt torn.
Not long after, he got the nerve to ask,
All the sailors to through him in the sea at last.
Right after they threw Jonah, the fierce storm stopped.
And he was swallowed by a whale on top.
One cannot imagine how he felt and handled.
The situation of being trapped inside a sea mammal.
Yet, he was clever and choose to pray.
He prayed: ÍžLord how long shall I cry out to You?
In the belly of this whale, I promise to,
Preach to the Ninevites and put aside my pride.
I pray You forgive me, dear Lord, please hear my cry.
God the all-merciful, slow to anger and quick to forgive,
Accepted and heard Jonah’s prayer to live.
By the command of God, the whale vomited him away,
At the shore of Ninevah, where he would stay.
Jonah took this opportunity to learn to be brave.
And to help the Ninevites to willingly change.
Successfully Jonah was able to save,
The Ninevites and their city from perishing away.
However, he was oddly apathetic on this result,
Accusing God for being too easy on humans and too soft.
God taught Jonah a lesson through a plant that gave him shade.
A plant that God made to speedily wither away.
He was devastated and had a rant for this plant that died.
God reminded him of his selfishness and pride.
For in God’s eyes, a human’s salvation is worth more than a plant.
Jonah was humbled again at the memory of his superficial rant.
Indeed, Jonah finally learnt that God desires everyone to be saved,
And that we’re called to lead others humbly in God’s way.
By Marina Zakary
